The portion of I-70 between I-675 and Enon Road in Clark County is designated as the "Deputy Suzanne Hopper Memorial Highway",[3] in honor of a Clark County Sheriff's deputy who was shot and killed on January 1, 2011 while responding to reports of gunshots at a mobile home park on Enon Road, near I-70.[4]

I-70 appeared on the original AASHTO interstate route numbering map from August 14, 1957. It was envisioned as a modern upgrade of the old National Road (US 40), the main east–west route through the heart of the state, built closely parallel to, but on a separate alignment from, the then overburdened and obsolete highway. The 21-mile (34 km) section between Kirkersville and Gratiot (current exits 122 – 142), was the first new construction opened to traffic (1959). At that time, the highway was accessed at both ends via temporary at-grade intersections with the old National Pike, with I-70 and US 40 sharing the same carriageways.

Once the road was extended westward towards Columbus by 1968, access was routed to exit 122, with the western 1-mile (1.6 km) access road continuing US 40 back to the old National Pike becoming part of SR 158 (though the westbound lanes were abandoned). The following year, the highway was opened eastward to Zanesville, with a new interchange, exit 142, at Gratiot. The at-grade intersection with the old National Pike was subsequently blocked off, to be erased by years of overgrowth. The US 40 designation was returned to the Pike around the same time, replacing the temporary SR 440 designation.

In February 2013, an 11.18-mile (17.99 km) segment of I-70 traveling through Franklin, Fairfield, and Licking counties was named by the National Asphalt Pavement Association as the winner of the 2012 Sheldon G. Hayes Award for the best asphalt pavement in the country.[5][6]